Les Misérables
by Snow Whitex Prince Charming
Summary: Les Misérables ONCE style!
1. Chapter 1

_The year was 1815. The French revolution was a distant memory. Napoleon had been defeated. France was ruled by a King again._

* * *

The ocean was seething in the wind, towards the shore. Winter rain sliced the air. Ahead, the port of Toulon, home of the French navy. A forest of tall masted warships. The great ships heaved at anchor, the wind whipping their rigging. Through the sea spray the great ribs of warships under construction, and warships being refitted could be seen.

**Toulon, Home port of the French navy**

Storm-lashed sea and driving rain. A great wave rose up and hammered down. As it receded the figures of men heaving on great ropes could be seen, the sea water streaming down over their faces. The harsh storm light caught glints of metal: these men were convicts, chained by manacles, heads shaved, wearing red shirts with prison numbers crudely stitched onto them. The ropes on which they pulled ran up to a ship that was being hauled ashore - a storm-damaged man-of-war, its masts broken, rising and falling on the surge. As yet another great wave rolled over the convicts, the straining ropes led down into the base of the slipway, and find the convict James, up to his waist in water, chained by two sets of manacles, as the rain and spray and wind screamed round him. A great brute of a man, he seemed to feel nothing. The convicts sang in time with the rhythmic pulls on the rope -

_"Ha - Ha - Ha - Ha - Look down, look down _

_Don't look them in the eye _

_Look down, look down _

_You're here until you die._

_No God above_

_And Hell alone below_

_Look down, look down _

_There's twenty years to go."_ The officer in charge of the convict workforce, Gold was his name, looked on, his face rain-lashed and expressionless. He stood above the men on the top of the dock, as lines of convicts labored beneath him on the steep steps of the dock wall.

Behind Gold, through the storm a forest of half-built ships, their ribbed frames like great skeletons in the mist some convicts were at work on another ship that was almost completed, laboring in the crashing spray.

_"I've done no wrong _

_Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer!_

_Look down, look down _

_Sweet Jesus doesn't care._

_I know she'll wait_

_I know that she'll be true -_

_Look down, look down _

_They've all forgotten you._

_When I get free _

_You won't see me Here for dust!_

_Look down, look down Don't look'em in the eye._

_How long, O Lord Before you let me die?_

_Look down, look down_

_You'll always be a slave. _

_Look down, look down _

_You're standing in your grave."_ With a last great heave the lines of convicts hauled the damaged ship onto the slipway. Then, CRACK! The stern flagpole of the ship snapped in a vicious gust of wind and crashed down into the shallow water near James. Gold saw and pointed his stick at James in a silent command. James stared back for a beat, defying him. Then he dropped down into the seething water and re-emerged with the great mast in his hands, held over his head. His head broke water with his bitter gaze still on Gold, as he threw the mast ashore in a deliberate display of strength. Gold nodded to the guards, and they began to form the chained men into lines to return to their prison. The storm was passing now, blown by the driving wind. Gold approached James.

_"Now Prisoner 24601. _

_Your time is up_

_And your parole's begun._

_You know what that means? _

_Yes. It means I'm free._

_No!" He handed James a folded yellow paper._

_"This badge of shame_

_Will mark you until you die. _

_It warns you're a dangerous man._

_I stole a loaf of bread_

_My sister's child was close to death_

_And we were starving._

_You will starve again_

_Unless you learn the meaning of the law._

_I know the meaning of those nineteen years_

_A slave of the law!_

_Five years for what you did, The rest because you tried to run._

_Yes, 24601!_

_My name is James!_

_And I'm Gold! _

_Do not forget my name. _

_Do not forget me - 24601!"_ He strode away to command the lines of convicts as they were marched away. James walked away, hardly able to take in that he was free at last.

The convicts sang as he went.

_"Look down, look down _

_You'll always be a slave. _

Look down, look down

_You're standing in your grave."_

* * *

James made his way up a rising track, a worn knapsack on his back. He came to a stop at the top of the hill, and there before him, lit by the rising sun, spread a wide vista of fields and towns and villages, stretching into the distance, with the snow capped Alps beyond. Behind and below him lay Toulon at the sea's edge. For the first time the darkness in his face gave way to a new hope.

"Freedom at last -

_How strange the taste!_

_Never forget the years - the waste, _

_Nor forgive them for what they've done._

_They are the guilty - _

_Everyone! _

_The day begins_

_And now lets see _

What this new world

_Will do for me!"_

* * *

James strode down the long rising road, pulling his thin coat close round him against the cold winter wind.

He passed a long line of laborers working. He approached the overseer.

"Monsieur can I help? A day's work?" James asked the overseer noticed shaved hair showing under James' cap.

"Take your hat off." He said James took his hat off, revealing his shaved and scarred head.

"Passport." The overseer said the overseer scanned the yellow paper, and handed it back.

"No work here." He replied.

* * *

James slogged on up the rising track into the mountains. Snow on the ground there, and darkness falling. He looked up and saw ahead a village built on a rock cliff, its lights twinkling, the snowy mountains rising behind. The tower of its handsome church rose up like a promise of refuge. This was Digne. James entered Digne. As he drank from the fountain, he sae a guard standing outside the Mairie. James stood waiting. The officer fastidiously wrote down the name of James in his huge ledger and the name of the town in his passport. The officer signed and stamped the passport.

"James the officer greeted the officer handed back the passport. James left. James walked down the high street, spied the warm glow of an inn and entered. He sat in the corner, his hat low over his head. He eyed hungrily a group of cart drivers tucking into a roast meal by a roaring fire place. The innkeeper served him a beer. As he reached for it his coat sleeve rode up to reveal his wrist, calloused and scarred by manacles. The innkeeper eyed him warily. He discussed James with two other men, then asked for his paper. Saw the phrase "Extremely Dangerous". From the yellow paper in the innkeeper's hands up to the innkeeper's face. A blank stare, a shrug of refusal.

"My inn is full." He said, James moved off wearily through the village. As he passed down the narrow street, faces peered at him from doorways, but the doors closed when he went by. A shadowy figure followed him. Word had spread that he was a 'dangerous man'. Passing the uncurtained window of a cottage, he came to a stop. Through the window he saw a scene that broke his heart: a father at a table by lamplight, his young wife before him, his children on either side. Nothing special, and yet everything he's never had.

He stopped at the local jail. An iron chain attached to a bell hangs from the prison door. He rang. A grate slid open.

"Jailer. Would you let me stay here for tonight?" James asked

"This is a prison, not an inn. Get yourself arrested. Then we will open up for you." Replied the jailer the grate slid shut. As James walked away, some children who had been following began throwing stones at him. He threatened them with his stick and they scattered. He saw over a garden wall a low doorway in a stone turret. James stooped through the doorway and lied down on some straw. He heard a ferocious growl and sawvthe head of an enormous mastiff. It was a dog kennel. Snow was falling as James made his way down the road, hungry, weary, moving slowly, his trousers ripped and bloody from where the dog had bitten him. At the end of a road, there was the snow-covered church; beside it, a dark churchyard. Snow-covered gravestones glowed eriely in moonlight. Exhausted, James collapsed to the ground and huddled himself into the shelter of a doorway. A lantern glowed in the dark. The lantern approached, throwing shadows. Its little circle of light came to rest on the crumpled figure of James. He stiref and openrf his eyes. The glow of the lantern in the darkness was blinding. Beyond it, the half-seen features of a kind old man the Bishop.

_"Come in, sir, for you are weary _

_And the night is cold out here. _

_Though our lives are very humble _

_What we have we have to share."_ Bewildered, fearful, suspicious, James got up and went with the Bishop into the house by the church.

A simple table on which was laid out bread and wine, with silver cutlery was waiting. Two silver candlesticks lit the room, illuminating walls painted with religious scenes. The Bishop ushered the bewildered James into the room. The bishop's sister Madame Baptistine stood. James hesitated.

_"There is wine here to revive you. _

_There is bread to make you strong._

_There's a bed to rest till morning -_

_Rest from pain, and rest from_

_wrong._

Sit, my brother." The Bishop gestured to the housekeeper Madame Magloire.

"Madame, set one more place." He said

"Please sit." He said to James the Bishop gently took his arm and drew him into a chair. James sat, and the Housekeeper laid food before him. Famished, James ate like an animal. The Bishop said a short grace.

"May the Lord bless the food we eat today. Bless our dear sister and our honored guest."

"Please, eat. Where are you travelling to my brother?" The Bishop asked James

"Pontarlier."

"Is that where your family is?"

"No. The destination is compulsory. That is where the Law sends me. I have no home." James replied

"Then let this be your home, for as long as you need it." Said the Bishop.

The Bishop led James to a bedroom where the walls were also painted with religious imagery. Across the passage, James saw the open door to the Bishop's own bedroom. There the Housekeeper was putting the table silver away in a cupboard.

He turned to see a bed made up with clean white linen waiting for him. He hadn't slept in such a bed ever in his life. But the Bishop was smiling, offering it to him.

"Sleep well. Tomorrow morning before you leave you will have a cup of milk from our cows, nice and hot." The Bishop turned away to go to sleep.

"You let me sleep here next to you? How do you know I'm not a murderer?" James laughed a strange laugh.

"God will take care of that."

* * *

Later that night James lay on the bed, fully dressed, deeply asleep. Outside a dog barked. James' eyes snapped open. The first thing he saw by the light of the moon was an image of God the Father gazing down on him from the painted ceiling. In panic, fearing judgement, he sat bolt upright. Then he looked round, and remembered. He got out of bed, and opened the door.

There, across the narrow passage, the door stood open to the Bishop's bedroom. In the moonlight, he saw the Bishop lying asleep. Above his bed, the cupboard where the silver was kept. James moved silently into the Bishop's room, holding a metal miner's spike which he pulled from his bag. The floor boards creaked. He looks down at the old man, holding his breath, but the bishop was peacefully and innocently asleep. He reached up to the cupboard. It was unlocked. The cupboard door opened with a sharp cracking sound. The Bishop, disturbed in his sleep, moved a little. At once James was over him, like a wild animal, spike raised to strike should he wake. The Bishop slept on. The moon came out and lit up his beautific, smiling face. James was thrown. He turned back and opened the cupboard door fully: there was the silver. Carefully he picked it out, fearful of every clink. One last look at the sleeping old man, and he made a run for the door. James rushed out of the back door of the house. He crossed the graveyard, scrambled over a back wall, and he was gone. In the morning the Bishop was coming in from morning Mass in his vestments when the door burst open and two policemen dragged James before him. James hung his head, unable to meet the Bishop's eyes.

"Monsignor, we caught the thief red-handed! He has the nerve to say you gave him all this!" On of the policemen said. He upended James' kitbag, and the silver tumbled out. The Bishop looked from the silver to James.

"That is right." He said amazed, James looked up.

_"But my friend, you left so early, _

_You forgot I gave these also. _

_Would you leave the best behind?"_ The old Bishop was holding out the two silver candlesticks. The Bishop turned to the policemen

_"Messieurs, release him. _

_For this man has spoken true. _

_I commend you for your duty _

_Now God's blessing go with you."_ Silenced by the Bishop's gentle tones, the policemen turn and left. James, utterly bewildered, took the silver candlesticks.

_"But remember this, my brother - _

_See in this some higher plan. _

_You must use this precious silver _

_To become an honest man._

_By the witness of the martyrs,_

_By the passion and the blood, _

_God has raised you out of darkness -_

_I have bought your soul for God."_

* * *

James kneeled in the church. He took out his yellow passport and stared at it. He turned towards the altar, and the crucifix above it.

_"What have I done? _

_Sweet Jesus, what have I done? _

_Become a thief in the night _

_Become a dog on the run! _

_And have I fallen so far _

_And is the hour so late _

_That nothing remains but the cry of my hate?_

_The cries in the dark that nobody hears_

_Here where I stand at the turning of the years._

_If there's another way to go I missed it twenty long years ago._

_My life was a war that could never be won._

_They gave me a number and murdered James_

_When they chained me and left me for dead_

_Just for stealing a mouthful of_

_bread!_

_Yet why did I allow this man _

To touch my soul and teach me love?

_He treated me like any other _

_He gave me his trust _

_He called me brother. _

_My life he claims for God above..._

_Can such things be?_

_For I had come to hate the world - _

_This world that always hated me!_

_Take an eye for an eye! _

_Turn your heart into stone!_

_This is all I have lived for! _

_This is all I have known!_

_One word from him and I'd be back _

_Beneath the lash, upon the rack. _

_Instead he offers me my freedom!_

_I feel my shame inside me like a knife._

_He told me that I have a soul... _

_How does he know?_

_What spirit comes to move my life?_

_Is there another way to go?"_ Slowly, he examined the yellow passport and raised it high, as if to the altar.

_"I am reaching, but I fall_

_And the night is closing in... _

_As I stare into the void -_

_To the whirlpool of my sin."_ James stood and turned, walking fast to the door of the church.

_"I'll escape now from that world - _

_From the world of James._

_James is nothing now!"_ James came out of the church into the graveyard and reached a bell set on the edge of a promontory. Below lay the steep drop down the mountainside to the dark valley below.

_"Another story must begin!"_ He ripped the yellow paper into pieces and threw the pieces out over the valley. The scraps fluttered in the wind. Then fell away into the void below. One scrap of paper danced upwards in the sunlight leaving James and the town of Digne far below, towards the sun gloriously breaking through the heavens with the Alps beyond.

_**I had to I am in love with this movie now! Review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_Eight years later Montreuil-sur-Mer, 1823._

* * *

Three horses rode down a long muddy road on a flat plain towards the walled town of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Montreuil sits on an estuary leading out to the sea. Ships sitting in low tide on the mud of the estuary along the dockside of the town could be seen, and red brick factory buildings. The horse riders: Gold, flanked by two policemen. As the riders entered the walled town the poor clustered around the gates - destitute and sick people clambering to get in.

_"At the end of the day you're another day older_

_And that's all you can say for the life of the poor._

_It's a struggle! _

_It's a war!_

_And there's nothing that anyone's giving._

_One more day standing about - _

_What is it for?_

_One day less to be living."_

Gold saw the destitution of the people. Expressionless as ever.

_"At the end of the day you're another day colder_

_And the shirt on your back doesn't keep out the chill. _

_And the righteous hurry past _

_They don't hear the little ones crying_

_And the plague is coming on fast _

_Ready to kill -_

_One day nearer to dying!"_ A plague victim, wrapped in a shroud, being thrown onto a cart. Was a common sight amongst the people. The police entered the harbor. The beggars were pushed back as the gates opened and closed for the police.

_"At the end of the day there's another day dawning_

_And the sun in the morning is waiting to rise_

_Like the waves crash on the sand _

_Like a storm that'll break any second_

_There's a hunger in the land _

_There's a reckoning still to be reckoned_

_And there's gonna be hell to pay _

_At the end of the day!"_ Gold looked round at the factory buildings, the boats in the harbor, the poor clamoring behind him, and rode on.

Heavy carts waited to be loaded with wooden crates of goods. Workmen carried the crates out of the factory as the foreman strode in through the doors, gesturing to a cart driver, who was taking a quick rest on a crate. The foreman passed men packing boxes on tables and loading boxes onto crates. He passed through a door under a first floor office. The long workspace was full of tables at which conservatively dressed women were working, making jewelry out of shellac, a black resin that looked like jet. An impressive sight: obviously a very successful business. A wooden staircase climbed one wall to a glass-windowed business office. The figure of a man within.

_"At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing!_

_Sitting flat on your bum doesn't buy any bread!_

There are children back at home –

_And the children have got to be fed._

_And you're lucky to be in a job-" The Foreman had stopped beside Mary Margaret, a pretty young woman. As he leaned over to whisper in her ear Mary, surprised, pricked her finger with her needle._

_"And in a bed!_

_And we're counting our blessings!" The Foreman continued his rounds, encouraging the women to speed up their work._

_"At the end of the day just be glad to be working_

_For a master who cares for the_

_lives of the poor._

_He's a riddle.._

_He's no fool.._

_He's the answer to anyone's prayer_

_And he paid for the brand new school_

_It's no wonder they made him the mayor!_

_Bless the man who leads the way! At the end of the day!" _They got on with their tasks, all glancing up at the boss in

the office above. The Foreman returned to Mary Margaret, trying to help her.

_"Have you seen how the foreman is fuming today_

_With his terrible breath and his wandering hands?_

_It's because little Mary Margaret won't give him his way._

_Take a look at his trousers, you'll see where he stands!_

_And the boss, he never knows_

_That the foreman is always on heat._

_If Mary Margaret doesn't look out, Watch how she goes,_

_She'll be out on the street!"_ The Foreman rang a bell, announcing the end of the workday. The women started to take off their overalls and pack up their tools for the day.

_"At the end of the day its another day over_

_With enough in your pocket to last_

_for a week_

_Pay the landlord, pay the shop_

_Keep on working as long as you're able _

_Keep on working till you drop _

_Or it's back to the crumbs off the table _

_Well, you've got to pay your way _

_At the end of the day!"_ The women queued up to be paid by the Foreman at the door. Mary Margaret had taken out a letter. The main factory woman snatched the letter away from Mary Margaret.

"And what have we here, little innocent sister?" The letter was passed surreptitiously down the line of women workers.

_"Come on, Mary, let's have all the news._

_'Dear Mary Margaret, you must send us more money,_

_Your child needs a doctor, there's no time to lose.'_

_Give that letter to me_

_It is none of your business._

_With a husband at home _

_And a bit on the side! _

_Is there anyone here _

_Who can swear before God_

_She has nothing to fear? _

_She has nothing to hide?"_ The main factory woman started to take Mary Margaret's letter over to the Foreman. Mary Margaret tried to get the letter back. The women scuffled.

The owner entered the factory floor.

_"What is this fighting all about? _

_Will someone tear these two apart?_

_This is a factory, not a circus._

_Now come on, ladies, settle down._

_I run a business of repute."_ James said suddenly James saw Gold appear on the first floor balcony of his office. His world dropped away.

"Deal with this, Foreman. Be as patient as you can." He walked back to the stairs up to his office. On the factory floor -

"Now someone say how this began!" The factory women all turned on Mary Margaret.

_"At the end of the day she's the one who began it!_

_There's a kid that she's hiding in some little town._

_There's a man she has to pay_

_You can guess how she picks up the extra -_

_You can bet she's earning her keep_

_Sleeping around!_

_And the boss wouldn't like it._

_Yes, it's true there's a child And the child is my daughter _

_And her father abandoned us, _

_Leaving us flat._

_Now she lives with an innkeeper man and his wife_

_And I pay for the child. _

_What's the matter with that?"_ Mary Margaret continued to defend herself to the Foreman, as the women sang -

_"At the end of the day she'll be nothing but trouble_

_And there's trouble for all when there's trouble for one! _

_While we're earning our daily bread_

_She's the one with her hands in the butter -_

_You must send the slut away_

_Or we're all going to end in the gutter_

_And it's us who'll have to pay _

_At the end of the day!"_ The Foreman pulled Mary Margaret away.

_"I might have known the bitch could bite!_

_I might have known the cat had claws!_

_I might have guessed your little secret!_

_Ah yes, the virtuous Mary_

_Who keeps herself so pure and clean -_

_You'd be the cause, I had no doubt_

_Of any trouble hereabout._

_You play a virgin in the light _

_But need no urging in the night!"_ Mary Margaret slapped the man

_"She's been laughing at you _

_While she's having her men!_

_She'll be nothing but trouble again and again!_

_You must sack her today!_

_Sack the girl today!"_

"Right, my girl! On your way!" Below, Mary Margaret turned and called to James in his office above with a pitiful cry.

"M'sieur Mayor, help me! I have a child!" James heard the cry, but he had other concerns. He turned round to face Gold. Gold stared at him. On the factory floor below, the Foreman hustled Mary Margaret out, as she struggled against him.

* * *

Gold bowed.

_"I introduce myself, Inspector of Police. _

_I've come to take the watch _

_I'm here to keep the peace. _

_Please know me as Gold._

_I'm here at your command _

_With honor due to each._

_With justice in our hands _

_No man's beyond our reach. _

_Let all beware."_

_"Welcome, sir_

_Come guard our laws I'm sure we're here _

_In common cause." _James said Gold turned to look through the high window onto the men's factory floor below. The last men were leaving for the day.

_"You've done the city proud, _

_You've raised their banner high._

_You manufacture gems _

_That anyone can buy _

_Your people thrive."_ James showed some demonstration samples of their work.

_"The dignity of toil _

_To stay alive."_ Gold was puzzled. He was sure he recognized James, but from where?

"_It seems to me _

_We may have met."_ James threw him a sharp glance.

_"Your face is not a face I would forget."_ A crash from outside in the yard followed by shouts sounded James and Gold hurried out across the factory yard and down the muddy track beyond to discover - A heavily laden cart had toppled onto the cart driver. The cart driver and the Foreman were trying to lift the cart off the crushed man, but it was too heavy, and the ground was too soft. The man screamed as the cart slowly sank in the mud. James, Gold and Gold's assistant all hurried to help, but they could not get a proper purchase in the spongy ground. All the time the cart was sinking further, pushing the man deeper into the mud that would soon bury him. Then James saw a way. At one end the wheels of the cart had stopped sinking - the ground was harder here. He threw himself under the cart at this higher end, and braced himself to lift it from beneath.

"Get back! It may fall!" James cried

"No, Monsieur le Mayor!" Cried his forman

"It'll kill you as well!" Roared the crowd Gold stood back and looked on. As he looked, a

memory stirred within him. James' posture beneath the cart was exactly the same as the convict beneath the fallen mast. The same crouching power. The same almost-suicidal

determination. James saw Gold looking at him, and knew exactly what

he was thinking. For a moment he hesitated. Then he heard

the man's choking scream as the mud gagged his mouth. James strained every muscle, and slowly one end of the

cart began to rise. As soon as it cleared the crushed and

gasping man, the others pulled him clear. James let the cart down again, and climbed out. As he brushed himself down he found Gold staring at him.

_"Can this be true?_

_I don't believe what I see!_

_A man your age_

_To be as strong as you are!_

_A memory stirs..._

_You make me think of a man_

_From years ago_

_A man who broke his parole.._

He disappeared." He shook his head, realising how absurd his suspicions

were.

_"Forgive me, sir._

_I would not dare –_

_Say what you must._

_Don't leave it there."_ James held Gold's gaze, challenging him to say more. Gold was not yet confident enough to continue. James went to help the man.

"Let me help you up." The man groaned as he rose.

"Monsieur le Mayor, you come from God! You are a saint!"

"No more cart driving for you!" Was James' response. Gold stared. He could not rid himself of his suspicion.

"Monsieur le Mayor." He drew himself up and gave a bow. As he walked away, he discussed something with his assistant.

_**Ok, if Mary Margaret is Fantine you can guess who is Cosette... Review!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Meanwhile Mary Margaret made her way to the harbor wall. Beggars sheltered in the tunnels under the red brick buildings. Mary Margaret made her way down wet slimy steps. That led to an alleyway that ran down to the harbor and three ships lying on the mud at low tide. At the far end, the largest was the rotting hulk of a vast old warship. A single whore sat in a doorway.

"Excuse me, is this where the Pawnbrokers is?" Mary Margaret asked

"It's just there." The whore said pointing

"Thank you." Drunken sailors spilled out into the alleyway below. The first sailor was trying to find the whorehouse.

"I smell women!" He laughed

"Smell'em in the air! Think I'll drop my anchor In that harbor over there!" They spotted Mary Margaret, mistaking her for a whore. Mary Margaret pressed **

on down the steps, trying to ignore the sailors.

"Lovely ladies!" Another sailor chuckled

"Love 'em till your broke! Seven months at sea can make you hungry for a poke!" The sailors then saw whores start to appear from the shadows of warehouse doorways.

"Even stokers need a little stoke!" Said a third sailor. A man with no legs, reacted to the sailors, and cranked up an organ-grinder and from doorways and overhead windows harbor whores appeared and tout for business. A man selling dentures stood by his cart only fragments of his sales pitch could be heard.

"Lovely ladies waiting for a bite! Waiting for the customers who only come at night. Lovely ladies ready for the call, standing up or lying down or any way at all – bargain prices up against the wall!" The laughed

"Lovely dentures" the tooth man cried

Guaranteed to bite they clean up real easy you can take them out at

Night. Sell your teeth here make a pretty sum. Best Tooth Man in the harbor, guaranteed no painful gums bargain prices up against the wall!" Meanwhile Mary Margaret sold a locket containing a cutting of her daughter's hair to the pawnbroker.

"Hello sweetheart, I'll give you four francs." The pawnbroker said

"It's worth at least ten." Mary Margaret argued the pawnbroker went back in his shop and Mary Margaret watched the whores.

"Alright, five." She finally said the pawnbroker took the locket in exchange for the money. An old woman leered at Mary Margaret from the shadows, beckoning. She approached Mary Margaret, reaching out to stroke her hair.

"What pretty hair! What pretty locks you've got there! What luck you got. It's worth a centime, my dear! I'll take the lot!" The woman cooed

"Don't touch me! Leave me alone!" Mary Margaret cried

"Let's make a price. I'll give you all of ten francs. Just think of that!" The old crone coaxed

"It pays a debt..." Mary Margaret whispered

"Just think of that." Said the crone

"What can I do? It pays a debt. Ten francs may save my poor

Emma." The hair crone led Mary Margaret down to her shop at the base of the stairs. Mary Margaret was sat on a low stool. She bowed her head before the hair crone, who at once whips out a razor blade and cut off her hair at the roots. Mary Margaret later walked down the steps with short hair, mocked by the voices of the whores on either side. A pimp and the head whore watched her progress as the organ- grinder ground out the music. Whores laughed from the warehouse doorways, from on top of the spars of the ships, writhing around figureheads and from the rotting ship. The few men in the street chose their whores and disappeared

"Lovely ladies waiting in the dark. Ready for a thick one or a quick one in the park." The head whore spoke up

"Long time, short time anytime my dear! Cost a little extra if you want to take all year"

"Quick and cheap is underneath the pier" the whores laughed the tooth man called out again

"Lovely dentures guaranteed to bite they clean up real easy you can take them out at

night . Lovely teeth dear shining like the stars I'll whip em out quite quickly, and I won't leave any scars." Mary Margaret reached the hair crone.

"Please, you wouldn't have any work for me would you? Please, I sold you my hair. I could do anything." She begged the hair crone pointed at the head whore and the tooth man.

"Go and see them." She said Mary Margaret looked towards the tooth man and the head whore.

"Come over here," The tooth man called

"I pay ten francs for a tooth."

"Come here my dear. I'll pay well for your youth." The head whore smiled Mary Margaret headed to the tooth man.

"You have, my dear, the clear advantage of youth." He said the head whore whispered

"Just the back ones."

"The pain won't last," The tooth man swore

"You'll still be able to bite." The head whore grabbed Mary Margaret's cheeks and forced open her mouth to inspect her teeth.

"I do it fast, I know my business all right. It's worth a go." The pimp pushed Mary Margaret down.

"You'll pay me first what I am due." Mary Margaret said

"You'll get twice if I take two!" Replied the man she opened her mouth, and the pincers went in, as everyone gathered round to watch. Mary Margaret screamed as the first tooth was removed.

* * *

The pimp was passing among the whores, checking that they were all fit for business. The pimp gestured at Mary Margaret, now slumped in a doorway, her

cropped head in her hands. A shy captain watched Mary Margaret. The pimp noticed.

"Gimme the dirt - Who's that bit over there?" He asked a whore

"A bit of skirt, she's the one sold her hair." She replied

"She's got a kid," said the head whore

"Sends her all that she can."

"I might've known there is always some man." He moved in on Mary Margaret.

"Lovely lady, come along and join us! Lovely lady!" Mary Margaret looked up, a trickle of blood in one corner of her mouth. The whores clustered round her, hands reaching out to draw her in to their world. On the rotting warship, more whores appeared out of the gaps of the hull

"Come on, dearie, why all the fuss?"

"... why all the fuss."

"You're no grander than the rest of us."

"... than the rest of us."

"Life has dropped you at the bottom of the heap."

"...at the bottom of the heap." One of the whores bit her fingertip and applied her blood to rouge Mary Margaret's cheeks.

"Join your sisters –" Called the head whore

"Make money in your sleep!"

WHORES

"... make money in your sleep."

"That's right, dearie, show him what you've got!" One of the whores smiled

"... show him what you've got."

"That's right, dearie, let him have the lot!"

"...let him have the lot. The whores performed for the benefit of Mary Margaret on the orders of the head whore, as the head whore leads her towards the hulk.

"Old men, young men, take'em as they come! Harbor rats and alley cats and every kind of scum! Poor men, rich men, leaders of the land - See them with their trousers off, they're never quite as grand! All it takes is money in your hand!" The pimp led the captain down the middle of the whores to Mary Margaret who wears a filthy white dress. The pimp joined the captain and Mary Margaret's hands as the head whore officiated like a twisted wedding ceremony.

"Lovely ladies going for a song, Got a lot of callers but they never stay for long..." Mary Margaret puts on a show of courage as she leads the captain into the ship's hulk, which is a brothel.

"Come on, Captain, you can wear your shoes. Don't it make a change to have a girl who can't refuse?"

* * *

Mary Margaret, pale and frail, her bodice loosened, led the captain down to the damp dregs of the ship. Mary Margaret laid down on a rotting straw mattress.

"Easy money lying on a bed. Just as well they never see the hate that's in your head! Don't they know they're making love to one already dead?" she whispered to herself, when the man was done with her he left money. Mary Margaret laid alone on the mattress. She pulled herself into a sitting position against the head

of the mattress. She drew her legs up and wrapped her arms round her knees, huddling against the misery of the world.

"There was a time when men were kind, when their voices were soft and their words inviting. There was a time when love was blind and the world was a song, and the song was exciting. There was a time... Then it all went wrong. I dreamed a dream in time gone by, when hope was high and life worth living. I dreamed that love would never die. I dreamed that God would be forgiving. Then I was young and unafraid and dreams were made and used and wasted. There was no ransom to be paid, no song unsung, no wine untasted. But the tigers come at night with their voices soft as thunder as they tear your hope apart as they turn your dream to shame. he slept a summer by my side, he filled my days with endless wonder. He took my childhood in his stride but he was gone when autumn came. And still I dream he'll come to me! That we will live the years together... But there are dreams that cannot be and there are storms we cannot weather... I had a dream my life would be so different from this hell I'm living - So different now from what it seemed! Now life has killed the dream I dreamed."

As she ended her song, her next customer was waiting. The head whore beyond.

_**As a whole I love this movie, but since I have to break it up I'm starting to get very anxious about getting to my deffination of "the good part" Review to help me focus!**_


	4. Chapter 4

Mary Margaret was out on the snow and ice-covered quayside, shivering, waiting for trade. She looked pale and sickly, but still attempted an alluring smile. She moved past the anchored ships, beneath the bowsprits, trying pathetically to attract custom. Then she came to a stop, staring. She had seen and recognized James, some way off. He was out in the harbor district. He was talking to a beggar. Before he moved on, he handed over some money. As Mary Margaret watched James on his mission of mercy, a well-dressed young man, came up to her. He arrived with two friends and a valet.

"Here's something new. I think I'll give it a try." He said

"Come closer, you! I like to see what I buy. The usual price for just one slice of your pie."

"I don't want you! No! No, M'sieur! Let me go!" Mary Margaret cried

"Is this a trick? I won't pay more!" Cried the man

"No, not at all!" Mary Margaret screamed

"You've got some nerve, you little slut! You've got some gall! It's the same with a tart as it is with a grocer the customer sees what he gets in advance It's not for the whore to say "yes sir" or "no sir" It's not for the harlot to pick and to choose or to lead me a dance!" Snapped the man He pulled her clothing open and laughingly stuffed snow down her cleavage. Mary Margaret reacted with fury. They fell over in the snow and man laughed.

"I'll kill you, you bastard! Try any of that! Even a whore who has gone to the bad won't be had by a rat!" Mary Margaret cried she scratched him across the face. He touched his face and saw the blood on his fingers. His friends dragged Mary Margaret against the harbor wall.

"By Christ you'll pay for what you've done! This rat will make you bleed, you'll see! I guarantee I'll make you suffer! For this disturbance of the peace for this insult to life and property!" Spat the man, suddenly he saw that the police had arrived.

"I beg you, don't report me, sir. I'll do whatever you may want." Mary Margaret cried

"Make your excuse to the police!" The man's friends dragged Mary Margaret towards the police. It was Gold.

"Tell me quickly what's the story. Who saw what and why and where? Let him give a full description, Let him answer to Gold! In this nest of whores and vipers let one speak who saw it all. Who laid hands on this good man here? What's the substance of this brawl?" Gold asked

"Gold, would you believe it? I was walking, it was dark when this prostitute attacked me you can see she's left her mark!" He showed Gold the blood. Gold turned to Mary Margaret.

"She will answer for her actions when you make a full report. You may rest assured, M'sieur, That she will answer to the court." Mary Margaret was almost fainting with fear, still racked with occasional spasms of coughing. Unseen by her, James was approaching from behind. Gold's assistants picked Mary Margaret up. Gold covered his mouth with a handkerchief as he approached Mary Margaret.

"There's a child who sorely needs me, Please, M'sieur, she's but that high. Holy God, is there no mercy? If I go to jail she'll die." Mary Margaret begged

"I have heard such protestations every day for twenty years. Let's have no more explanations, save your breath and save your tears." Gold indicated to the two policemen to drag Mary Margaret away. James stepped out of the shadows.

"A moment of your time, Gold. I do believe this woman's tale."

"Monsieur le Mayor!" Gold cried

"You've done your duty. Let her be. She needs a doctor, not a jail." James said

"Monsieur le Mayor!" Gold looked on, containing his anger, as James reached out a hand to Mary Margaret.

"Can this be?" She whispered

"Where will she end -This child without a friend?" James asked he held Mary Margaret's hands, looking into her face.

"I've seen your face before. Show me some way to help you. How have you come to grief in such a place as this?" James asked

"M'sieur, don't mock me now, I pray It's hard enough I've lost my pride. You let your foreman send me away. Yes, you were there and turned aside. I never did no wrong." Mary Margaret cried

"Is it true what I've done-"

"My daughter's close to dying."

"- To an innocent soul?"

"If there's a God above-"

"Had I only known then!"

"He'd let me die instead."

"In His name my task has just begun. I will take her to the hospital." James picked Mary Margaret up in his arms. Gold was quietly, coldly furious.

"Monsieur le Mayor!" He called

"Bring Emma back to me." Mary Margaret begged

"Where is she?" James asked

"At an inn in Montfermeil..."

"Monsieur le Mayor!"

"I will see it done! I will send for her immediately!" James promised. As James and Mary Margaret moved away, Gold stared after them, then turned and quietly instructed his assistant to follow after them.

* * *

As Gold walked up the steps to his police station his assistant stopped him with an urgent letter.

"From Paris, Monsieur." Gold seized it, opened it, and read. As he read, his expression changed. Appalled, he realized he'd made a terrible mistake.

James was at his desk in his office, going through his papers once everyone else had gone, when Gold entered and stood before him. He looked up.

"Monsieur le Mayor I have a crime to declare! I have disgraced the uniform that I wear. I've done you wrong, let no forgiveness be shown. I've been as hard on every rogue I have known. I'll bear the blame, I must be treated just the same." He said

"I don't understand. What is this crime, Gold?" James asked

"I mistook you for a convict, I have made a false report. Now I learn they've caught the culprit, he's about to face the court." James concealed his shock.

"And of course the thief denies it, you'd expect that from a con. But he couldn't run forever, no, not even James."

"You say this man denies it all, and gives no sign of understanding or repentance? You say this man is going to trial, and that he's sure to be returned to serve his sentence?" James asked

"He will pay, and so must I. Press charges against me, sir!" Gold cried, it was tempting

"You have only done your duty It's a minor sin at most. All of us have been mistaken you'll return, sir, to your post." James said nobly.

"Must I do as you say?"

"It's your duty to obey!" James said firmly Gold was about to protest again, but James raised one commanding hand, to indicate his decision was made. Gold gave an abrupt bow, and departed. Left alone, James paced his office, deeply disturbed.

"They think that man is me -Without a second glance. This stranger they have found -This man could be my chance! Why should I save his hide? Why should I right this wrong? When I have come so far and struggled for so long? If I speak I am condemned. If I stay silent, I am damned!" He went out onto the balcony that looked down on the empty factory.

"I am the master of hundreds of workers -They all look to me. Can I abandon them? How would they live if I am not free? If I speak they are condemned. If I stay silent, I am damned! Who am I? Can I condemn this man to slavery? Pretend I do not feel his agony? This innocent who bears my face, who goes to judgment in my place... Who am I?" James set about to furiously packing stuff up.

"Can I conceal myself forever more? Pretend I'm not the man I was before? And must my name until I die be no more than an alibi? Must I lie? How can I ever face my fellow men? How can I ever face myself again?" James hesitated outside the courtroom and in the lobby of the courtroom, pacing back and forth.

"My soul belongs to God, I know, I made that bargain long ago. He gave me hope when hope was gone! He gave me strength to journey on! Who am I? Who am I? I'm James!" He pushed through the crowds at the back of the courtroom. The man accused of being James, a wretched down-and-out, stands before the judge. He looked uncannily like the real James. Before the judge had a chance to speak, the doors opened and James burst in. Sensation in the court.

"And so, your honor, you see it's true that man bears no more guilt than you! Who am I? 24601!" The judge was too stunned to respond. The others in the court couldn't believe what they'd just heard. The Mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer, a convict!

"If you don't believe me ask Inspector Gold. He knows where to find me." The judge went over to James and gently led him out.

"Monsieur le Mayor, you are not well, you must come with me, and do you have a carriage outside? Monsieur le Mayor, we must get you home to bed immediately!" He said but James refused and hurriedly ran for the hospital.

* * *

James hurried into the hospital, breathless. He saw a nursing sister outside Mary Margaret's room.

"Is her daughter with her?"

"No, monsieur. Her guardian sent this." She gave James a note. He read it with mounting anger.

"'Money not enough. Send more. Mills.' What sort of man is this?" He spat before going to Mary Margaret's side. She lay in bed, delirious. She was dressed in pure white. Her eyes were closed, and to James she looked like an angel.

"Emma, it's turned so cold! Emma, it's past your bedtime! You've played the day away and soon it will be night." Mary Margaret's eyes opened and she saw Emma, playing in the room. She looked healthy and was dressed prettily. "Come to me, Emma, the light is fading. Don't you see, the evening star appearing? Come to me, and rest against my shoulder, how fast the minutes fly away and every minute colder?" James entered, and saw at once that Mary Margaret was close to the end. He dropped to his knees by her bed.

"Dear Mary Margaret, Emma will be here soon! Dear Mary Margaret, she will be by your side Mary Margaret tried to get out of bed

"Come Emma, the night has grown so cold!" James tenderly put the frail woman back to bed

"Be at peace! Be at peace ever more."

"My Emma-"

"-Shall live in my protection." James vowed

"Take her now!" Mary Margaret pushed into his hand a scrap of paper on which she had written her wishes.

"Your child will want for nothing." James promised

"Good M'sieur, you come from God in heaven." Mary Margaret said

"And none shall ever harm Emma as long as I am living." Mary Margaret had stopped looking towards the window. All her fading strength was now directed towards James. She tried to reach up to him.

"Take my hand... The night grows ever colder."

"Then I will keep you warm." James wrapped her in his arms.

"Take my child I give her to your keeping." Mary Margaret said

"Take shelter from the storm."

"For God's sake, please stay till I am sleeping... And tell Emma I love her and I'll see her when I wake..." Mary Margaret started to spasm. She saw something over James' shoulder. He didn't realize. Her eyes went glassy a she passed away. James then heard the unforgettable voice of Gold behind him.

"James, at last we see each other plain! 'M'sieur le Mayor' you'll wear a different chain!" James stood to face Gold.

"Before you say another word, Gold, before you chain me up like a slave again, Listen to me! There is something I must do. This woman leaves behind a suffering child. There is none but me who can intercede -In mercy's name, three days are all I need, then I'll return, I pledge my word! Then I'll return..." Gold drew his sword and aimed it at James.

"You must think me mad! I've hunted you across the years. Men like you can never change -A man such as you!" James broke a section of timber beam from the roof. The men started to circle each other. They spoke at the same time, dueling.

"Believe of me what you will There is a duty that I'm sworn to do. You know nothing of my life -All I did was steal some bread. You know nothing of the world -You would sooner see me dead. But not before I see this justice done!"

"Men like me can never change. Men like you can never change. No, 24601! My duty is to the law. You have no rights. Come with me, 24601!" The two men fought.

"I am warning you, Gold, I'm a stronger man by far! There is power in me yet! My race is not yet run!"

"Now the wheel has turned around -James is nothing now. Dare you talk to me of crime and the price you had to pay. Every man is born in sin every man must choose his way." Gold disarmed James and drove him backwards towards an attic door.

"You know nothing of Gold! I was born inside a jail. I was born with scum like you. I am from the gutter too." James was pushed through the doors out onto a wooden loading platform beneath a hoist. Below, the walls of the hospital led straight down to the black sea at high tide. Gold was triumphant. James glanced down and pushed back, dropping into the darkness of the ocean. Gold went to jump after him but could not bring himself to do it. Gold stared into the black sea - there was no sign of James. Down in the harbor Gold and various police searched the harbor side with lanterns. James, dripping wet, watched from a tunnel under a factory, as Mary Margaret's body wrapped in a shroud was dumped on a cart. They whispered to themselves, continuing their duet without knowing.

"And this I swear to you tonight-"

"There is no place for you to hide."

"Your child will live within my care-"

"Wherever you may hide away-"

"And I will raise her to the light. I swear to you, I will be there!"

_**Review!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile in a tiny village the streets were bright with booths set up for the Frost Festival. Families and visitors were out buying baubles, or laughing at the antics of traveling players. Small girls clustered around a stall that displayed prettily dressed dolls. Across the road from this stall stood a shabby inn. A sign lashed to an old cart revealed the in to be called 'The Sergeant of Waterloo'. From a frosted window of the inn young Emma gazed out at the display of dolls, Emma was in the process of sweeping the floor, she came to a stop mesmerized by the prettiest doll in the display, and jealous that Regina Mills could see it and touch it up close.

"There is a castle on a cloud, I like to go there in my sleep. Aren't any floors for me to sweep. Not in my castle on a cloud. Emma got out from a hiding place in the wall a knotted grimy rag - this was her "doll", the knot was the doll's head.

"There is a lady all in white Holds me and sings a lullaby. She's nice to see and she's soft to touch." Emma held the doll to her ear and whispered,

"She says, Emma, I love you very much. I know a place where no one's lost I know a place where no one cries. Crying at all is not allowed, not in my castle on a cloud." Just the Madame Mills came bustling down the stairs in a bad mood. She glowered at little Emma and changed the closed sign from "closed" to "open".

"Now look who's here! The little madam herself, pretending once again she's been so awfully good! Better not let me catch you slacking! Better not catch my eye! Ten rotten francs your mother sends me -What is that going to buy? Now take that pail, my little Mademoiselle, and go and draw some water from the well. We should never have taken you in the first place - how stupid the things that we do! Like mother, like daughter, the scum of the street." Emma went to put the broom away. As Regina came in from outside.

"Regina, come my dear. Regina let me see you. You look very well in that little blue hat! There's some little girls who know how to behave and they know what to wear and I'm saying thank heaven for that!" Madame Mills saw that Emma far from going was hiding behind the far wall.

"Still there, Emma? Your tears will do you no good! I told you to fetch some water from the well in the wood."

"Please do not send me out alone. Not in the darkness on my own." Emma begged

"Enough of that, or I'll forget to be nice! You heard me ask for something, and I never ask twice!" Madame Mills snapped the innkeeper's gang posing as customers who had been loitering outside come in, explaining to a fifth man who was a newer recruit a story from Monsieur Mill's past. Madame Mills went outside to open up the rather pathetic frost fair stall on the porch of the inn.

"Mine host Mills. He was there, so they say, at the field of Waterloo."

"Got there, it's true, when the fight was all through but he knew just what to do."

"Crawling through the mud, so I've heard it said, picking through the pockets of the English dead."

"He made a tidy score from the spoils of war." Suddenly Madame Mills called out.

"My band of soaks, my den of dissolutes, my dirty jokes, my always pissed as newts, my sons of whores, Spend their lives in my inn! Homing pigeons homing in -They fly through my doors, and their money's as good as yours!" Monsieur Mills was trying to sell something unappealing from the stall to a portly looking man when slushy snow from the stall's roof fell on the man's head. Monsieur Mills ushered him inside to Madame Mills.

"Welcome, M'sieur! Sit yourself down and meet the best Innkeeper in town!" Madame Mills pretended to accidentally drop a comb from her hair and the customer helpfully picked it up, allowing Madame Mills to pick his wallet from a back pocket as he stood up. Monsieur Mills took his coat, which allowed the couple to see the customer transfer a pocket watch from coat to jacket pocket.

"As for the rest -All of them crooks rooking the guests and cooking the books. Seldom do you see honest women like me a genteel of good intent who's content to be-" she poured a strong drink for the new customer

"Mistress of the house! Doling out the charm Ready with a handshake and an open palm" Madame thieved the pocket watch using her handshake as a distraction. She passed this off to Monsieur Mills.

"Tells a saucy tale Makes a little stir Customers appreciate a bon-viveur Glad to do a friend a favor Doesn't cost me to be nice But nothing gets you nothing Everything has got a little price! Mistress of the house! Keeper of the zoo! Ready to relieve'em of a sou or two-" she served wine "Watering the wine making up the weight picking up their knick-knacks when they can't see straight everybody loves a landlord Everybody's bosom friend! I do whatever pleases -Jesus! Won't I bleed'em in the end!" At Monsieur Mills' stall, a frost fair customer was covered by snow, only this time Monsieur Mills was responsible for pushing the snow off the awning with a stick.

"Mistress of the house! Quick to catch your eye never wants a passer-by to pass her by!" Monsieur Mills ushered the customer inside. Again Madame Mills dropped her comb in front of the new customer but this time the thieving was foiled by little Emma who helpfully picked it up. She shouted at little Emma to get out.

"Servant to the poor maid to the great Comforter, philosopher and lifelong mate Everybody's boon companion Everybody's chaperone-"

"But lock up your valises -Jesus! Won't I skin you to the bone!" A family entered the inn. Madame fussed over them.

"Food beyond compare food beyond belief mix it in a mincer and pretend its beef kidney of a horse liver of a cat filling up the sausages With this and that!" Madame Mills served the disgusting food to the family.

"Residents are more than welcome Bridal suite is occupied Reasonable charges Plus some little extras on the side. Charge'em for the lice Extra for the mice Two percent for looking in the mirror twice. Here a little slice There a little cut Three percent for sleeping with the window shut. When it comes to fixing prices There are lots of tricks he knows How it all increases All those bits and pieces -Jesus! It's amazing how it grows." The Mills' come out of the inn, backed by a posse of Madame's gang of loyal customers, and took control of a brass band to sing to the Frost Fair.

"Mistress of the house! Quick to catch your eye Never wants a passer-by To pass her by!" Further down the street, carrying her empty buckets, Emma turned to look sadly back at the cheery sight.

"Servant to the poor maid to the great Comforter, philosopher and lifelong mate Everybody's boon companion Gives'em everything she's got -" The Portly Customer had discovered he'd been robbed. He came out to protest, holding out his emptied wallet. At once two of Mills' thugs grabbed him and hustled him off. Madame Mills later approached a handsome soldier who was drinking at a table by the fire in the inn. She sat on his lap and got him to look back at Monsieur Mills, so allowing her to see inside his coat and spot his wallet.

"I used to dream That I would meet a prince But God almighty Have you seen what's happened since? 'Master of the house' Isn't worth my spit! Comforter, philosopher And lifelong shit! Cunning little brain Regular Voltaire Thinks he's quite a lover But there's not much there. As Madame Mills reached for the man's groin, she lifted his wallet skillfully and handed it off to Monsieur Mills.

"What a cruel trick of nature Landed me with such a louse. God knows how I've lasted Living with this bastard in the house!" She pulled the young man into a dance, enabling her to steal everything else of value he had. Father Christmas had also been lured from the frost fair and the Mills' slit his present's sack and exchanged it for a sack containing snow.

"Mistress of the house! Comforter, philosopher Servant to the poor Butler to the great-"

"Hypocrite and toady And inebriate!"

"Everybody bless the landlord! Everybody bless her spouse! Everybody raise a glass! Everybody raise a glass to the master of the house!"

* * *

Emma had filled her buckets at the well in the wood, and was now heading back. Through the dark trees ahead she glimpsed the cheerful lights of the Frost Fair and the distant inn. She went slowly, because the buckets were heavy. She hummed to herself to keep her spirits up, a wordless verse of 'Castle on a Cloud'. After a few steps she paused to rest the weight of the buckets. Strong arms reached for the buckets and lifted them out of her hands. She looked up, amazed. There was a kind looking man.

"Hush now, do not be afraid of me. Don't cry. Show me where you live." He said

"Tell me, my child, what is your name?" He asked

"I'm called Emma."

"Emma?" She gazed up at him. Hardly knowing why, the little girl trusted this stranger. James picked up the heavy buckets, and they headed back towards the inn. As they went, they hummed 'Castle on a Cloud' together.

_**I took some artistic lisence with Cora Review!**_


	6. Chapter 6

James entered with Emma. Madame Mills hurried over. Madame and Monsieur Mills tried to thieve from James using the same tricks established earlier, but he evaded every attempt. Regina watched silently from a corner.

"I found her wandering in the wood This little child, I found her trembling in the shadows. And I am here to help Emma, and I will settle any debt you may think proper. I will pay what I must pay To take Emma away. This is a duty I must heed. There is a promise I have made. For I was blind to one in need, I did not see what stood before me. Now your mother is with God. Her suffering is over, And I speak here with her voice, And I stand here in her place, and from this day, and ever more-"

"Let me take your coat, M'sieur!" Madame Mills cooed

"Emma shall live in my protection." James said

"You are very welcome here!" Monsieur Mills said

"I will not forget my vow."

"Take a glass! Take a chair!" Coaxed Madame Mills

"Emma shall have a father now." Monsieur Mills turned to his wife.

"What to do? What to say Shall you carry our treasure away? What a gem! What a pearl! Beyond rubies is our little girl! How can we speak of debt? Let's not haggle for darling Emile!" Madame Mills said

"Emma!" Monsieur Mills corrected

"Emma- Dear Mary Margaret- gone to rest -have we done for her child what is best? Shared our bread - shared each bone -Treated her like she's one of our own! Like our own, M'sieur!"

"Your feelings do you credit, Madame. And I will ease the parting blow. Let us not talk of bargains and bones and greed." He gave Madame Mills money.

"Now may I say we are agreed?" James asked

"That would quite fit the bill If she hadn't so often been ill. Little dear, cost us dear! Medicines are expensive, M'sieur. Not that we begrudged a sou -It's no more than we Christians must do." Monsieur Mills said James gave more "One thing more!" Cried Madame Mills

"One small doubt! There are treacherous people about! No offence! Please reflect! Your intentions may not be correct!" James handed over more money.

"No more! Here's your price! Fifteen hundred for your sacrifice. Come, Emma, say goodbye. Let's seek out some friendlier sky. Thank you both for Emma -It won't take you too long to forget." He led Emma to the door. James lifted Emma into the waiting cab.

"Where I go, you will be."

"Will you be like a Papa to me?" Emma asked

"Yes, Emma! This is true! I'll be father and mother to you!" James said. The cab set off down the road. Madame Mills took the bunch of notes from her husband's hand and inspected them.

"Not bad!" He said

"Not enough!" Snapped his wife, through the open door Madame saw a man on horseback rattling up to the inn. "There's a copper at the door! What the devil have you done?" Hissed Madame Gold strode into the inn.

"Where's the child Emma?" He asked

"She's gone with a gent, Didn't tell us where they went, and Didn't leave his home address."

"Did you catch the fellow's name?" Both Mills shook their heads. Gold stared once, contemptuously, round the seedy inn, and departed without a further Monsieur Mills went to the doorway to watch him leave.

"You're a bloody fool Look at what we got. Should have struck the iron, Struck it while it's hot." Spat his wife

"Next time round we'll be here and we're gonna get the lot."

* * *

James' cab passed down the road into the city. James had one arm round Emma to protect her from the jolting of the cab. He gazed at her as she slipped into a fitful sleep.

"Suddenly I see suddenly it starts When two anxious hearts Beat as one. Yesterday I was alone Today you walk beside me Something still unclear Something not yet here Has begun. Suddenly the world Seems a different place Somehow full of grace And delight. How was I to know That so much love Was held inside me? Something fresh and young Something still unsung Fills the night. How was I to know at last That happiness can come so fast? Trusting me the way you do I'm so afraid of failing you Just a child who cannot know That danger follows where I go There are shadows everywhere And memories I cannot share Nevermore alone Nevermore apart You have warmed my heart Like the sun. You have brought the gift of life And love so long denied me. Suddenly I see What I could not see Something suddenly Has begun." He brushed the hair from her face, and satisfied himself that she was comfortable. Then he put his head out of the window. At the gate into Paris, soldiers were checking documents of occupants of carriages.

"Emma, Emma, wake up sweetheart. We have to go" James whispered as he slipped out of the carriage with Emma and made his way along the wall, away from the gate. James found a section of tumble down wall and climbed over. He and Emma made their way down a darkened street. They turned down a narrow street, no longer hurrying. The narrow street turned, and opened out onto the river. James stopped. There, on the other side of the river, in the light of a lamp, stood Gold. Now James and Emma were running - down narrow alleys, into small dark courtyards, not knowing which way to turn. Whenever James thought they'd thrown their pursuer, there he was, not far behind. And he was no longer alone. With him were a detachment of soldiers. Gold and his team never seemed to run. But he was always there. James and Emma turned into a street that was walled in by high windowless houses. They followed it round a corner to find - a dead end. A high wall before them. They were trapped. James looked round. No way out. Then he saw a nearby lamp bracket. Hanging from it was the rope that was used to lower the oil lamp for lighting. He tore off the rope and tied one end round Emma, beneath her armpits. Then holding the other end, he scaled the wall, using the corner to brace himself as he rose. Once on the top, he hauled Emma up by the rope. Only then did he turn to look down onto the other side. A cloister. A building in the middle, windows glowing. Grave stones black against the white snow. The sound of women's voices, singing a psalm. James lowered Emma down into the garden, and dropped down after her. Gold and his men entered the dead end to find them gone.

James crouched low, with Emma in his arms, holding her still and quiet until Gold was gone. Then he straightened up and looked round. He took in the sound of singing. He went closer to the windows of the building. Through the blurry glass he could make out a chapel, and a line of nuns singing. James continued and saw a man filling in a new grave. The man started as he saw James.

"Who's that?" James jumped, taking Emma protectively into his arms. He turned to answer.

"Why, it's Monsieur Mayor!" It was the old man James had saved, now a gardener, still limping from his injury.

"Who are you?" James asked

"Don't you remember? The cart fell on me!" Said the man

"Monsieur Fauchelevent! You saved my life! You got me this job as a gardener!" James gazed at him, and remembered.

"Now you can do the same for me. We need a place of sanctuary. This child and I, we need to disappear." James said

"In this place of Holy Orders You are brought to God's domain May the sisters grant you shelter May their prayers ease your pain." Said Fauchelevent James and Emma followed him to the convent.

"We'll give thanks for what is granted What the sisters may ordain Here we pray for new beginnings -Here our lives can start again." James said, he looked to the heavens in thanks.

_**TADA! Now for the fun stuff! Review!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_Paris, 1832. _

The dawn light glowed on a massive elephant. The monument, made of wood and plaster, now ruined and crumbling, stood on a plinth on one side of the wide-open square. On the far side, the remains of the great fortress that was the Bastille. In the middle, scaffolding surrounds a half-built triumphal column, which was being erected to celebrate the new regime. The streets that ran from the square lead in one direction to the Paris of power and wealth; in the other direction into the slums. A head popped out of one of the elephant's many holes, a street urchin. gave a shrill whistle. At once a dozen more street urchins showed themselves, from every crack in the monument's skin. Agile as a monkey, the boy dropped to the ground, followed by his band. He raced down a grand boulevard, dodging the crowds of strolling bourgeoisie and beggars, weaving in and out of the lines of carriages attempting to make their way in either direction. These were the conveyances of the rich, fine gilded coaches with matched horses and footmen on the back. Virtually at a standstill, they lended the boy a platform as he leapt from coach to coach, a street urchin dancing on the heads of the elite. As he went, the poor on the pavements called out to the stony-faced rich in their golden high-sprung glory.

"Look down and see the beggars at your feet! Look down and show some mercy if you can! Look down and see the sweepings of the street! Look down, look down, Upon your fellow man!" The fine ladies and grand gentlemen in the carriages averted their eyes, or raised the blinds of their carriage windows to shut out the sight of the losers of their world. The boy, bounding over their heads, evading the swipes of liveried footmen, landed on the running board of one particularly grand carriage and begged and taunted the rich occupant.

"'Ow do you do? My name's 'Enry! These are my people, here's my patch. Not much to look at - nothing posh! Nothing that you'd call up to scratch. This is my school, my 'igh society! Here in the slums of St Michel. We live on crumbs of 'umble piety Tough on the teeth - but what the 'ell! Think you're poor? Think you're free? Follow me! Follow me!"

"Look down and show some mercy if you can! Look down, look down, upon your fellow man!" Still running with Henry as he hopped onto the back of another very grand carriage, the traffic now moving at last, hitching a ride on the back - one or two of his gang hopped on back of the carriage with him, the others run panting after to hear his political lecture.

"There was a time we killed the King We tried to change the world too fast. Now we have got another King, 'e is no better than the last. This is the land that fought for liberty -Now when we fight we fight for bread! 'ere is the thing about equality -Everyone's equal when they're dead. Take your place! Take your chance! Vive la France! Vive la France!" The carriage had reached an arch into a courtyard where a crowd of a couple of hundred was gathered outside a house of sickness. The carriage stopped as its occupant wanted to watch what was going on. The street was padded with straw. Many eyes gazed up at the draped windows. People crossed themselves. A priest was seen hurrying into the house, accompanied by two altar boys. Henry jumped off as the carriage stopped and joined the crowd. The crowd was made up of citizens of Paris, student revolutionaries, the poor and beggars. The students handed out printed leaflets and tried to excite the crowd

"Look down and show some mercy if you can! Look down, look down, upon your fellow man!"

"When's it gonna end? When we gonna live? Something's gotta happen now! Something's gotta give! It'll come, it'll come, it'll come... It'll come, it'll come, it'll come..." A student, Baelfire was his name, stood on a raised step, making an impassioned speech with fellow student Graham. The occupant of the stopped carriage was Monsieur Humbert, Graham's grandfather. He was clearly deeply unhappy to see his grandson engaged in such an activity. In the crowd a young street girl, Regina, had her eyes fixed longingly on the handsome Graham.

"Where are the leaders of the land? Where are the swells who run this show?" Cried Bae

"Only one man, General Lamarque speaks for the people here below!" Graham cried he looked towards Lamarque's house behind him.

"Lamarque is ill and fading fast -Won't last a week out, so they say. With all the anger in the land, How long before the Judgment Day? Before we cut the fat ones down to size? Before the barricades arise?" Mounted Police rode in to break up the crowd. The crowd broke up. The students shouted to the crowd:

"Tomorrow we will return!"

"Tell everyone you know" called Graham

"We will show them! Lamarque is the only leader on our side! We have a right to pray for Lamarque!"

"We need more people, then the police will not dare ride against us!" Said a student

"Vive le General Lamarque!" Graham turned to see his grandfather staring him down, furious.

"Do you have any idea of the shame you bring on your family! You're behaving like a child." Said the old man as he spied a gun poking out of Graham's jacket. He turned to get back in his carriage.

* * *

Back at his flat, Graham was sitting on a tatty mattress in a tiny hovel of a room. He was taking out a hunting rifle from under the mattress, wrapped in a rag. The ring on his finger caught hid eye. It was a signet ring, with a family crest. Graham stared at the ring then took it off his finger. Regina was staring at him through the door.

"Hey there Monsieur what's new with you? Haven't seen much of you of late. Planning no doubt to change the world? Plotting to overthrow the state? Still living here in this old sewer Might as well doss down in a ditch You still pretending to be poor? Everyone knows your Grandpa's rich" Graham rushed down the stairs of the slum, Regina followed.

"How did you...?"

"There's lots of things I know" Regina said

"Won't take a franc that I've not earned, all of those bridges have been burned." Replied Graham

"I like the way you talk Monsieur!" Smiled Regina

"I like the way you always tease." Replied Graham Regina came to a stop, looking wistfully after Graham.

"Little he knows -Little he sees."

* * *

Graham was stopped as he exited the front door of the Gorbeau Tenement by a passing carriage. Once it passed Graham saw two people in the street outside. One was an old gentleman, the other was a beautiful young girl. The two were giving alms to beggars as they walk back from evening church service. Graham couldn't take his eyes off the girl. He had never seen anyone so lovely in his life. As if drawn by Graham's gaze, the girl looks up and met his eyes. She too was amazed: he was looking at her as if he already knew her. A second carriage broke their held gaze. Graham continued on down the street and when he looked back, at that precise moment the girl looked at him again. The old gentleman instinctively put his arm round her, guarding her jealously from the distant boy's gaze. Further down the street to an alleyway where the Mills', heavily disguised, were waiting for James' approach with their gang of crooks, Babet, Brujon, Clacquesous, Montparnasse.

"Everyone here, you know your place -Brujon, Babet, Clacquesous -You, Montparnasse, watch for the law - with Regina- take care." Montparnasse hurried over to the doorway where Regina was watching Graham

"You turn on the tears!" Madame Mills was holding a baby

"No mistakes, my dears!" Monsieur Mills approached James and lured him into the mouth of the alleyway where Madame Mills was sat on the ground holding the crying infant. Emma was a few steps behind, still entranced by the sight of Graham.

"Please, M'sieur, come this way. Here's a child that ain't eaten today. Save a life, spare a sou! God rewards all the good that you do." As James bent down to look at Madame Mills she recognized him.

"Wait a bit! Know that face! Ain't the world a remarkable place!" Monsieur Mills looked at the man and saw what his wife saw.

"Women like me don't forget -You're the bastard who borrowed Emma!" Screeched Madame James was grabbed by some thugs.

"What is this? Are you mad? No, Madame, you don't know what you say!" The Mills' pulled off their disguises. And James recognized them.

"You know me! I know you! And you'll pay what I'm due." Madame cried, she signaled to her gang. A door opened in the alleyway revealing the huge Brujon. The gang moved in on James menacingly. Just then Regina shouted from up the street

"It's the police! Disappear! Run for it! It's Gold!" The gang spilled out into the street to find themselves confronted by Gold now with his men. Graham watched, as did Henry, drawn by the rumpus.

"Another brawl in the square! Another stink in the air! Was there a witness to this? Well, let him speak to Gold!" Gold saw a man with his arm protectively round a girl but did not recognize James for James had averted his face.

"Monsieur, these streets are not safe. But let these vermin beware, We'll see that justice is done!" He turned back on the Mills gang in the passage.

"Look upon this fine collection crawled from underneath a stone. This swarm of worms and maggots Could have picked you to the bone! I know this man over here, I know his name and his trade. And on your witness, M'sieur, I'll see him suitably paid. " He turned back to find James and Emma gone.

"But where's the gentlemen gone? And why on earth did he run?"

"You will have a job to find him!" Madame Mills cried

"He's not all he seems to be -And that girl he trails behind him She's the child he stole from me!" Graham, equally baffled, went off in search of them.

"Could it be he's that old jailbird That the tide now washes in? Heard my name and started running... All the omens point to him." Gold said Madame, listening, heard this all with great interest. So James was a crook like them.

"And the girl who stood beside him, When I turned they both had gone. Could he be the man I've hunted? Could it be he's James?"

"In the absence of a victim, Dear Inspector, may we go? And remember when you've nicked him It was me what told you so." But Gold was too caught up in his own thoughts to reply.

"Let the old man keep on running I will run him off his feet!" Gold turned to the crowd,

"Everyone about your business! Clear this garbage off the street!" Henry was sitting on a horse trough and fell back into it when Gold surprised him. He was furious. He called out to Gold's departing back, and to Graham who was close by.

"That inspector thinks 'e's something But it's me who runs this town! And my theatre never closes And the curtain's never down! Trust 'Enry! 'Ave no fear! You can always find me 'ere!" No one heard Regina whispering

"Emma! Now I remember... Emma! How can it be? We were children together. Look what's become of me." She turned back to find Graham gazing down the street.

"Regina! Who was that girl?" He asked

"That bourgeois two-a-penny thing!" Cried Regina

"Regina, find her for me!"

"What will you give me?"

"Anything!"

"Got you all excited now," smirked Regina

"But God knows what you see in her. Aren't you all delighted now?" Graham pressed a franc into her hand.

"No, I don't want your money, sir."

"Regina, do this for me, Discover where she lives. But careful how you go -Don't let your mother know. Regina! I'm lost until she's found." Graham said

"You see? I told you so! There's lots of things I know! Regina, she knows her way around."

_**Tada Regina is Eponine and Graham is Marius! Review!**_


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